More Than 70 Percent of Texas is Now Free of Drought

We all remember 2010. The heat, the dryness, the SWEATING. Day after day the temperatures swelled above 100 degrees.

The intense hot weather ignited one of the worst droughts in Texas history over the next four years. Then Gov. Rick Perry issued a state of emergency for the drought, begging Texans to "pray for rain." He renewed the state of emergency again in 2013.

But now we're starting to see the state of drought in the Lone Star State disappear.

This year has seen Texas experience record high rainfalls and intense flooding across the state. Rivers have risen 26 feet in an hour. Lake Texoma went over the spillway for only the fourth time in nearly 60 years.

A year ago, more than 40 percent of Texas was either in Extreme or Exceptional Drought conditions. That number is now zero percent. And from Severe Drought to Exceptional Drought, the percentage from a year ago is down to 3.29 percent from 56.11 percent.

Statewide only 29.89 percent is in some state of drought. A year ago that number was more than 90 percent.

While the rain has been beneficial for the state in lifting us out of the drought, it has brought some heavy side-effects, as well. The rain has brought more rain, resulting in flooding that has cost lives, homes and resulted in millions of dollars in damage across the state.